Mr. Wong detective

Mr. Wong, Detective (1938)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A business man fears for his life so he pays a visit to Detective Wong (Boris Karloff). The next day the man is dead and a suspect is arrested but Wong isn't so sure they've got the right guy. Soon other murders are committed and it's up to Wong and Captain Street (Grant Withers) to try and solve them.

With the likes of Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan being so popular, Monogram decided to get in on the Asian characters and they ended up doing six Mr. Wong pictures, five with actor Boris Karloff. None of the films were all that great but there's no question that this first one was the best of the lot.

This one here benefits from a somewhat better than normal screenplay that offers up an interesting murder scheme and for the most part I thought it played out quite well and the ending was fun and believable. It also doesn't hurt that Karloff himself was so good in the role of Wong.

Yes, we can argue about a white actor playing an Asian character but this is how it was done back in the day, for better or worse. I thought Karloff was really good at playing the low-key and rather laid back character and even though he doesn't talk or move quickly, he's still very much entertaining. I also thought Withers was fun in the role of the typical Detective in these type of movies. You know, the tough guy whose toughness never gets anything done.

THe film certainly shows it's "B" quality production but there's no doubt that it's a mildly entertaining film.